Could Drones Make The Energy Business Safer?

Some say drones could make operations safer in the state's energy industry.

Credit Photo courtesy of Identified Technologies

Small, high-tech drones are being used to make movies, shoot photos for the media and find sick or diseased crops in farm fields across the country — even though the government restricts commercial use.

Now, some are saying that drones could make operations safer in an industry Pennsylvania knows well: Energy.

Unmanned aerial vehicles, better known as drones, could be used in oil and gas operations for anything that is “dangerous or dirty to do by people,” said Michael Blades, who analyzes the drone industry for the global research firm Frost & Sullivan.

The federal government has used drones for military purposes for years. Now, small commercial drones are pegged to become a multi-billion dollar industry, and could be used for many different industries, analysts predict.

In Pittsburgh, for example, drones are being touted for use by the natural gas industry. In a Shadyside startup company, a small black drone with skinny white legs hovers in the hallway. It buzzes aggressively as it lifts off, musses the hair of its creator and then lands softly on the floor.